


Peculiar Sequence (because music is quite figuratively magical)

by LouStylesHTommo (Mymelodii)



Series: Dreamscape Vol.28 [5]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Character, Gender Identity, M/M, Misunderstandings, Porn with Feelings, So Many Cameos, Suspected Infidelity, Time Skips, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wholesome polyamory, a token straight guy, aka the love is requited they’re just idiots, experimental writing styles, music doing heavy lifting, queer representation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:35:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 9,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29068149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mymelodii/pseuds/LouStylesHTommo
Summary: Lou and H are childhood sweethearts, musicians, married, and still in love.This is the Story of Their Lives in rearranging order.
Relationships: Gigi Hadid/Kendall Jenner/Cara Delevinge, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Karlie Kloss/Taylor Swift, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Series: Dreamscape Vol.28 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740700
Kudos: 6





	1. When We Were Very Young (Think I’ve Loved You Since Then)

Louis’s biological dad left when Louis was just ten-day old. 

Jay was studying to become a midwife when she met Anne who worked at a bakery near her university. The two new moms became fast friends. Little Gemma liked baby Lou well enough to coo at him whenever Jay brought him to the shop.

Louis grew up feeling unconditionally loved by his mom and his grandparents. He started wrecking adorable havoc in the house as soon as he could crawl. Jay and Anne traded tricks & tips on how to get their picky toddlers to eat vegetables.

Anne knew how diligently Jay had been working toward her degree. When Jay graduated and became a proper midwife, Anne was pregnant with her second child. Anne did not let this opportune coincidence go to waste and made sure that Jay was right there with her when baby Harry was born. 

Gemma needed a bit of coaxing to consider yucky baby Harry cute. But Little Lou was immediately fascinated by the tiniest person he had ever seen in all of his two years of life. 

The first time Louis felt like an outsider was in preschool. His friend asked why he didn’t have a dad. Louis couldn’t answer and came home crying, heartbroken in his favourite Spider-Man t-shirt.

Jay was dating Mark Tomlinson at the time. Mark showed up with Jay at Louis’s nursery the next day to “pick up the coolest superhero in the history of ever.” He continued to do so day after day, winning Jay’s heart in the process.

Soon after Louis turned four, Mark officially adopted him. Louis’s biological dad showed up to sign the paperwork. This wasn’t the day Harry & Louis first met. But it was the day Harry met Louis **_Tomlinson_ ** for the first time.

They were in a public restroom. Harry’s dad was trying and failing to get 2-year-old Harry to pee properly, while Louis’s grandpa had no problem managing Louis. Louis’s biological dad just minded his own business. He never cared for Louis and was no longer even legally obligated to. 

Four-year-old Louis was just loitering and waiting for his grandpa when the top three of the most vindictive moments in Harry’s life occurred. 

His two-year-old self managed to pee on Louis’s biological dad in that restroom with just a little bit splashed on Louis before Louis’s grandpa stepped in and helped out Harry’s dad. 

It went on to become a running joke in the families. 

Louis Tomlinson said ‘Hi’ and Harry Styles innocently took that as a tacit permission to piss off the enemy. Harry’s dad said “Oops! Sorry.” Louis’s grandpa stepped in to help. Meanwhile Louis giggled hysterically at the mean man’s misfortune as Harry kept repeating his dad’s “Oops!” in the most obnoxiously insincere way possible.   
  


So Harry Styles once lived up to his bad boy reputation to the fullest.

  
What a terrible two.


	2. Right Now, A Thousand Miles Away (You’re Right Here With Me)

Harry asks him to move the phone camera just as Louis’s climax is fast approaching. So Louis tries to make sure his boyfriend could see the money shot, before Harry proves how much of a cupcake he really is.

//Wanna see your face, Lou. You’re so pretty when you come.//

Harry actually means it, Louis realises as their eyes meet via a tiny screen. His boyfriend smiles that special smile of his. The one that always makes Louis’s heart do a somersault. Because Harry never smiles like this at anyone else.

“Oh my god, you’re such a sap,” Louis moans, seeing stars and feeling like the prettiest person on earth due to his boyfriend’s unabashed adoration—

//Your sap is guilty as charged.//

—and promptly drops the phone on his own face.

//Oh my god, baby, are you okay?//

Harry’s question lands somewhere between worry and trying-not-to-laugh. 

Little does Louis knows his answer will come back to haunt him in the form of plagiarism by his beloved Bambi on stage.

“Physically, I’m fine. Emotionally, I’m bruised.”


	3. Up All Night (I’ll keep your secret safe)

“So good, babe. Oh, yes. Right there.”

Niall cannot believe how thin the walls are in a Japanese hotel. He’s literally hearing Louis’s voice as if they’re lying next to each other. They are clearly not, obviously.

“Haz, Haz, oh, Hazza.” 

Holy god, Niall does not need to know that Louis chants his boyfriend’s name every time Harry hits his prostate just right. 

“Oh, Haz, Haz, Hazza, babe. Oh, fuck me so well, darling.”

Nor does he need the confirmation that, yes, Harry is definitely fucking Louis in the room next door.

It’s not like Niall wants to interrupt his friends, but if he can tell that Harry is obligingly changing the pace as per Louis’s request, there’s no telling who else might be able to say the same.

It’s very telling that the only reason he’s knocking on the wall instead of grabbing his noise-cancelling headphones is the fear of others finding out about LouisandHarry.

Niall just doesn’t want to see Louis paste on a smile so fake tomorrow and insist everything is fine when Harry has to go get papped kissing another girl.

No wonder the gag order is so effective.

And Niall doesn’t mean that as a sexual innuendo.


	4. Gasp! I’m Your Paparazzi (Where’s My Restraining Order?)

Louis fucks himself on his boyfriend’s cock, so wet inside with lube and spunk from their last round that he’s dripping messily down his own thighs. The squelch makes it sound like he’s a girl. Given that his beloved is doing absolutely none of the work, the sexism is so real. 

“Put your stupid camera down and fuck me,” Louis demands, knowing full-well how it would drive Harry wild to hear that playback on tape later.

It’s driving him wild now, too, if the way he can’t help but thrust up into Louis a couple times is any indication. The camera stays, though. Because that’s the point.

“Sorry, baby. I really can’t keep a straight shot and fuck you at the same time,” Harry implores apologetically. “Forgive me?”

Louis has never stood a chance against his beautiful boy’s ridiculously endearing doe eyes. 

So it’s Harry’s own fault if Louis’s best quip in their sextape is “Great to know a straight shot is what you’re looking for. ‘Cause I’m wetter than half the girls in hetero porn right now.”

(In actuality, nothing beats Louis staring straight into the camera and deadpanning, “If our homemade porn ever leaks, we are obviously lookalikes. Definitely not the guys from that one band.”)


	5. Walking in a Narnia Wonderland

Louis knows it’s not cheating. But Harry’s very first crestfallen stare never stops making him feel like it is.

Eleanor squeezes his hand, reminding him of the cameras, while Louis would rather be anywhere but here.

It’s difficult to keep his composure when he’s actively breaking his own heart in two.

“Smile, Louis,” Eleanor whispers. Her hand cover the small space between her lips and his ear. Louis imagines it must look like she’s telling him a private inside joke.

“The quicker they get the good pictures, the sooner you can get out of here.”

Her approach to their relationship is strictly professional. Precisely because this is a job. Louis only wishes he could quit this one without severe repercussions in another.

Meanwhile Eleanor wishes to keep it for as long as she can, so she wouldn’t get blacklisted by modeling agencies.

On her father’s order.

Louis can’t help but notice how Eleanor never called him Dad and preferred to treat the rich old man like a complete stranger. 

Louis also sees the way her eyes light up every time ‘Jen’ texts, or calls.

That light dims whenever their eyes meet. Mutual misery unsurprisingly allows a sliver of camaraderie between them.

So Louis tries his best to avoid misplacing the resentment.

He smiles at her. More than aware that this is the justification his gorgeous green-eyed monster would use against him. But, lately, Louis would rather have a blistering bitter row with his jealous Hazza. Anything to replace a scream of suffocating silence at home, really.

His girlfriend, Eleanor, grins back with an all-too-familiar shadow of resignation.

Louis will put their story in a song, eventually.

_In a strange way_

_All in this together_

_Been this way forever_

_You're not the only one_


	6. Mad Hatter and the Prisoner of LA

Taylor Swift lives in a closet under the stairs.

To fortune and fame, or so they say.

It’s a figure of speech that makes Harry want to laugh until he cry at the irony of it all.

To think he’s actually the one named after the Boy Who Lived.

“How could you live like this and stay sane?” Harry wonders aloud, just in case she has a different answer from what he already knows.

Taylor gives him her most winning lip-glossed smile, “You have a very flawed question, sweetie.”

Harry stays quiet as she puts on her red lipstick. Then she takes his hand. Thunderous eyes full of jealousy paint a target on his back as they leave the car.

Harry doesn’t take offence. He understands better than anyone how hurtful it feels to see your _friend_ holding someone else’s hand.

Especially right after you just kissed them goodbye.

Right before the cameras start flashing, Taylor kindly reminds him, “Breathe, baby.”

Harry has never felt so young yet so weary before.

He wishes he could ask all of her ex-boyfriends and their skeletons in the closet.

‘Was it worth it—walking over the bones of someone you love to get to where you are? How long did it take for all the apologies to expire?’

Then he looks at his girlfriend as soon as she speaks to him, voice saccharine, “Your last song was so lovely. Thanks for letting me hear it first.”

Her eyes are all the wrong shade of blue.


	7. 5

“Are you okay?” Harry asks quietly. 

Louis doesn’t know what to say to that. Not without hearing Harry’s definitive answer to his questions first.

_Who were you on the phone with just now?_

_Why do you stop smiling when you look at me?_

_Are you happier when I’m not around?_

_What have you been doing in LA?_

_Or who?_

_Did you find someone new?_

_Did you take her to all the places we used to go?_

_Did you sleep with her in our bed?_

_Was she as good to you as I was?_

_Or am I still the one for you?_

_Are you still mine?_

But Louis couldn’t bring himself to ask any of them. Because there’s a wretched saying he remembers.

_As soon as you start wondering if you could trust someone, you know you already don’t._

And Louis doesn’t want to admit it just yet. 


	8. Aurora

Louis doesn’t know why he has never done this before, tracing his finger along Harry’s jawline as his beautiful boy sleeps soundly. Louis supposes it never seems necessary. Harry has always been here in the morning,

Louis isn’t so sure about tomorrow. Not anymore.

He’s only realizing just now how heartbreaking it is to memorize someone’s face. Blinking the tears away doesn’t work as well as wiping his face with the pillowcase. It’s disgusting, a little bit, to see the traces of questionable dampness there. Louis is trying too damn hard to distract himself.

Maybe if Louis stays awake long enough, he’d eventually become too tired to remember why he needs to remember everything about Harry right this very second in the first place.

Maybe if Louis stays awake long enough, he’d eventually work up the courage to ask Harry exactly what is going on.

‘Are you cheating on me?’

‘When did you meet her?’

‘Who is she?’

Louis doesn’t know how to ask the first question without making it sound like an accusation. But neither of the next questions matter if the answer to the first one isn’t a plain No.

Louis recalls himself laughing and rebuffing their mutual friends in no uncertain terms, as soon as they teased Harry about leaving Louis and finding someone new.

‘My boy would never!’ 

He wishes he still has the same confidence to say that now.


	9. September

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dubious/uninformed consent

It’s the first time Louis cries during sex for all the wrong reasons. Harry knows this because he knows Louis well enough to tell his anguished sobs apart from tears of overwhelming pleasure.

He would’ve stopped ages ago. Hell, Harry wouldn’t even have started if it weren’t for Louis’s desperate plea. He’s weeping like Harry is raping him. Just the thought of that makes Harry want to throw up. But Louis is clinging onto him so tightly, repeating himself over and over again until every word sounds like a mindless mantra. 

“Fuck me. Fuck me. Haz, please. Please fuck me. Please don’t stop. Please, Haz. Don’t stop. Please fuck me, please. Don’t stop fucking me. Just fuck me, Haz. Fuck me.”

Harry doesn’t want to keep fucking the sweetest person he has ever known. Not like this. But he is so, so afraid that Louis would shatter into a million pieces if they’re no longer tangled up and entwined this way.

Especially when glossy blue eyes he loves so much seem so, so lost in the stormy sea of devastating misery.

  
  


(Louis cries harder, squeezes his eyes shut, and tries to pretend that the person he loves the most isn’t acting like Louis’s body is the last place he wants to be in.)


	10. Quantum Swing

“Take off your clothes. Let us take your mind off things,” says one of the most gorgeous women Harry has seen in this life. He’s not even exaggerating. Her runway credentials say so.

She’s dangling black lace panties in front of him like the most terrifying temptation. He wants to express sincere gratitude and cry a river at the same time.

He ends up being a messy sobbing heap on the floor while she pets his hair.

“There you go. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Harry can’t stop pulling at the silver trim of the little black dress that she just zipped up for him.

“It fits,” Harry mumbles for a hundred times.

“Of course it does. It’s the same measurement as your tux,” Taylor pipes up from her place at the piano where she keeps the calming music going. “We got you a nude bodice, too.”

“I can teach you ballet if you want,” Karlie offers—to which Harry nods vigorously.

“I do. I do. Please. Thank you.”


	11. Madison Montgomery

“I don’t know what to...” Louis trails off, _do_ or _say_ , he cannot decide. Plus, he is way too tired to bother.

This person may have taken everything from him. Possibly. Maybe. Louis doesn’t know and he doesn’t want to make any unfounded accusations.

But he really is far too tired to be polite.

“What are we doing here?” Louis tries again, asking the simplest question he could think of at the moment.

He just wants to go home. But, just the thought of that makes him feel like crying and running home all over again.

Because no place feels like home anymore. Not lately.

He’s tapping his fingers on his phone, hidden in the pocket of his jeans, reminding himself that he could call his mom as soon as this conversation is over.

Taylor is looking him impassively and Louis wants to scream at her.

“Patience, Tomlinson. Good things take time to come around.”

It incenses him. Her cryptic way of doing every single thing mysteriously.

“Why can’t you just tell me to undermine my big bad label with legal-loophole company once again. Because that was helpful. This is not. At all.”

“Why did you break up with Harry?”

Louis goes from blood-boiling anger to iced-cold dread.

“Is that what he told you? Because I remember it very, very differently.” 

Louis doesn’t want to cry in front of her but he can’t stop his hands from shaking.

“Tell me what you remember then,” Taylor suggests, her voice a tad softer. Louis doesn’t want to explain. Not here at least.

“Can we not be in a public cafe for this? You’re about to rip off my surgical stitches, you know? Took Zaynie months to patch me up. But here you are, telling me to show you how I bleed into your war.”

“Not my war, Louis. We’re all in this together, remember?”

“No, I don’t,” Louis admits, getting up first and walking out. Trusting her to follow him. Or just leave him alone, at the very least.

Her bodyguard has a car door open for him right outside the cafe. Louis climbs into the backseat. Giving him a free ride back to the house is the least she could do after all the stunts she’s been pulling lately.

Louis has never hoped he could hate someone this much before.

Taylor makes him wait, again. Louis is already staring out the window when she comes to sit beside him.

“Dine and dash at 10 o’clock in the morning. What a criminal you are,” Taylor jokes. Her voice is really, really soft now.

Then the partition between them and the driver closes.

Louis starts sobbing like a lost little kid.

Taylor knows better than to touch him. Not even for a hug. Because they can both predict how he would lash out physically without meaning to.

Sometimes flinching comes across as pushing the other person away after all. Especially a major flinch like the one Louis would give in this vibe.

“I want to go home,” Louis pleads to the transparent reflection of himself in the window pane. He looks like someone he doesn’t recognise.


	12. Take Me Home (Because My Name is Whatever You Decide)

🎼 _I don’t think you even realize but, baby, you’d be saving mine🎶_  
  


The lyrics sheet in Harry’s hands is shaking as much as the muscle holding it. The demo keeps playing. But his eyes are too blurry to see the lyrics now. He can tell Louis is bouncing on the balls of his feet nervously and, possibly maybe, trying to gauge Harry’s reactions. Crying is a very ambiguous indicator after all. Then Zayn pulls Louis into a hug and Niall pats his back soothingly. Liam moves to stand right in front of Louis—blocking the line of sight between Harry and his everything.

They’re forming protective bubble around Louis. Harry is so, so grateful and very, very sorry all at once.

“Is this about me?” He asks, just to make sure. Just in case this is all a misunderstanding and Louis has moved on to someone else named Diana for real.

(He knows it’s super unlikely but Harry really needs all the reassurance he can get at the moment.)

Liam opens his mouth to answer but Louis cuts him off before he could even start.

“Yes, it is. I just replaced ‘my Hazza’ with Diana, because that wasn’t gonna fly with our label for sure. Plus, I’m not sure what name you wanna go by now. Not that you have to come back and be mine again or anything. I just,” Louis shrugs, aiming for nonchalant and failing miserably.

Because Harry could tell Louis didn’t want to speak his last sentence, given the lyrics of the song he wrote—apparently in the past two months or so.

Harry is so cluelessly dumbfounded. And surprised. And wondering if this is actually a dream and soon he’d wake up alone in his own bed, tormenting himself all over again about his own inability to tell Louis anything.

There’s this girl living in his head who is desperately trying to replace the Harry Styles™️ that the boy inside him has been made to become.

🎼 _If I could hold you, swear I’d never put you down🎶_  
  


Why did Harry ever think Louis would find that weird or unacceptable?

Oh, yeah. Louis walked out when Harry was trying to tell him the truth.

But Taylor has already hinted at the real reason behind Louis’s decision to give up on them before Harry left her house this morning to come to the studio.

(She doesn’t trust him to be alone much lately. Her girlfriend also not so subtly suggested he should see a therapist. A marriage counsellor, maybe.)

Louis is so close to him right now, with all the boys surrounding him.

And all Harry wants to do is beg Louis to take him back.

Which is kind of a mute point, since Louis has already handed him the greatest olive branch in all of literal history.

“I love you. Can we please go home to talk now?” Harry pleads, giving up all the pretense at being unaffected in anyway whatsoever. Louis looks at him with uncertainty in his eyes. But Zayn whispers something in his ears as Liam hands Harry’s his car key.

Louis walks to him. Harry wordlessly shows Louis his hand and their fingers immediately interlock. Louis also grabs Harry’s arm with his other hand and clings onto him as much as physically possible without giving him a hug.

Harry prays that Louis will keep holding onto him this way. To the car, literally. Forever, also literally. Harry wants to be handcuffed to his blue-eyed angel for the rest of his life.

Niall is obviously trying not to smile like a lunatic. However, he happily admits to being such a conniving little snitch in a second.

“I’m gonna call Tay and let her know our plan works!”

“Oh, for god’s sake, Niall,” Zayn gripes, fondly exasperated. “Be the worst spy, why don’t you. What a James Blonde you are.”

Liam’s laugh can be heard all the way to the parking lot. That boy has the voice of a star.

Louis loves all his three boys equally and nobody can change his mind.

(Louis also has an entirely brand new category for his Hazza.

No matter what his Hazza wants to call said category, the only person inside is always going to be the love of his life.

No one, not even God, can change Louis’s mind.)


	13. thirteen

“Ugh. Why are some boys so dumb?” Taylor exclaims out loud while furiously tapping her phone screen to send a flurry of text messages in a group chat aptly named ‘Unreal Intervention: Larry WTF’

Karlie just hums and continues to braid her disgruntled darling’s soft hair gently. Only the prettiest hairdo for her beautiful babe and all.

“I mean I’m starting to see Haz’s overdramatic ‘my whole world is ending’ Seven Odes Saga as reasonable. Reasonable!”

“The Seven Odes Saga is pretty dramatic,” Karlie says agreeably. “Dying Inside Everyday Demo could give it a run for the money, though.”

“Yeah. It’s so unlike Louis. Never thought I’d see the day Haz is screaming SOS and he’s too busy sulking to run to the rescue, honestly.”

“To be fair, Harry figuratively killed him off by ripping his heart to shreds when they broke up. His passive-aggressive acronym is such a sick burn. I love it.”

“Is ghosting your baby ever a good solution, though?”

“It is if said baby doesn’t actually exist,” deadpans Karlie, cracking up the person she’s hoping to call the love of her life one day. She finishes tying up a loose french braid while Taylor cackles like a wicked witch.

A very cute wicked witch. The very best of Elphie’s magical prowess and Glinda’s beauty combined.

“Oh my god, babe. You know I mean our friend, not the imaginary one in the papers.”

Karlie shrugs, unrepentant, “So Harry should start ghosting the papers, right? It’s almost like he’s blaming Louis for the words they’d put in his mouth.”

“That’s what everyone thinks. But Haz basically told me that every mention of this made-up baby is just the worst reminder of how he couldn’t give Louis a biological one of their own. Hence, my reevaluation on the reasonableness of the Seven Odes Saga.”

“Oh,” Karlie whispers, heart-wrenched. “Oh, no. Hazza.”

“I know. It’s the worst,” Taylor laments, pulling her girlfriend in for a hug because this other people’s business is depressing and she wants comfort. And for, possibly maybe, the love of her life to keep petting her hair.

“Haz swore me to secrecy. And, get this, Niall and Liam also know but have been sworn to secrecy, too. Because telling Louis apparently means guilt-tripping him. But how could Louis fix the problem he doesn’t even know exists? He’s dying inside everyday for all the wrong reasons. It’s so frustrating.”

“Does Zee know?” Karlie asks. Because if anyone can start cleaning up this mess right away, it’s Zayn.

“He does now,” Taylor simply admits to her tattletaling way. “He was just threatening his fiancé and Niall with some vivid bodily harm for trusting Haz to know what’s best for himself when it comes to Louis. Pretty sure he’s telling Louis off as we speak. For being too stubborn to admit he got it wrong when he said Haz didn't love him anymore.”

Karlie nods, satisfied about the direction this crisis intervention is going.

“See, this is why we all need a partner in crime to help us bend the rules.”


	14. Mythbuster (We tried this at home; Highly recommended)

Breakup sex was bad, made worse by the fact that Harry didn’t even know it was their breakup sex in the first place. 

Makeup sex has a very high potential to be the best and the worst. Simultaneously.

His small secretive saviour doesn’t need to accuse him of infidelity for Harry to know it’s the one thing that Louis is desperately trying to forget.

Even if it wasn’t, isn’t, has never been, and won’t ever be true.

A brand new box of condoms in their bedside table tells Harry all about how Louis still doesn’t know.

Couldn’t be sure even after all their mutual friends reassure him.

Couldn’t keep his voice from wavering because they’ve just agreed on a fresh start with an explicit promise to one another.

No more lying by omission.

“I bought this, just in case,” explains the most supportive person Harry has ever known.

So many responses run through his mind while Louis studiously avoids his eyes.

Naturally, Harry goes with the most ambiguous one of all.

“Please give me a moment. I’ll be right back.” 

Then he makes a mad dash for his gym bag and their walk-in closet, grateful for more than just this one luxury Louis insisted on when they bought this house together. 

His heart is pounding like crazy as he unzipps the dress and steps in.

There’s no time for elaborate makeup unless he wants to keep his ex-ex waiting. So he puts on a matte lipstick, takes a deep breath, and twirls in front of the mirror once.

Here goes nothing.

(Wonderstruck is the look on Louis’s face when realisation dawns.

This is the other girl his beautiful Hazza has been dreaming about.

And she just said, “Hello, stranger.”)


	15. Midnight Memories (yours to keep & yours to lose)

Kendall is Harry’s favourite girlfriend.

“I know, darling,” Louis coos and runs his hands through his tipsy Hazza’s long hair fondly. Cara laughs uproariously while Gigi pouts dramatically.

“You cheated!” Kendall screeches, pointing an accusing finger at Karlie who blinks back at her innocently.

“What are you talking about? I just placed a bet on you because you’re the prettiest—”

“Hey!” Two betrayed voices protest simultaneously.

Taylor gets an immediate reassurance from her girlfriend.

“She might be the prettiest but no one is as beautiful as you are in my eyes, darling.”

Louis tells Harry that everyone else is clearly delusional.

“Of course, you are the prettiest and the most beautiful, Hazza, especially on your birthday. Nobody compares, babe, I swear.”

Harry cheers. Niall collects the money from everyone who wagered wrong.

Liam hands over the cash after Gigi, making a promise of vengeance to his personal wallet keeper, “Tommo is gonna die an untimely death the next time he says you’re vain, Zayn.”

(It’s a set-up. Cara came up with the idea and Louis agreed readily. He understands better than anyone how insecurity-inducing it is to be compared on the internet to the one and only Ms Taylor Swift.

Gigi conspired with Zayn to make sure the game wouldn’t seem too obviously rigged. Liam is such a great liar that she didn’t feel the need to hide the plot from him.

No one really told Harry anything, though. Clumsy Bambi couldn’t lie to save his life. Louis just promised his bad liar a lot of kisses and whispered her name in his ear. It worked.

Niall volunteered as the referee due to his extreme caution. He couldn’t risk making Taylor feel insecure to make Kendall feel better. Not even after Taylor repeatedly assured him that it’s fine.

Good thing Karlie didn’t mind taking the role of a bad guy. She serenely placed a bet against the love of her life to lift the weight of conscience off his shoulders.

After all, looking out for one another is what chosen families do best.)


	16. 00

Harry giggles, drunk in love, as Louis gleefully pours more champagne all over him in the giant bathtub. Or maybe it’s meant to be a very small private swimming pool. They’re trying to make a literal champagne sea. It’s probably gonna take all night.

“How many bottles now?” Harry asks, as if he actually expects Louis to remember.

“Twenty-eight!” Louis shouts just to hear his own voice echoing alongside Harry’s carefree laughter. It’s wrong. They’ve gone past the 28th bottle a while back. But it’s their number and nobody can change Louis’s mind.

(The countdown from 13 starts outside where an actual swimming pool overflows with champagne. The event planner has ambulances waiting nearby. Because at least one of their esteemed guests will need an emergency treatment for alcohol poisoning, as per usual.)

Harry manages to hurt them both a little by tripping on his own two feet as he quickly tries to carry Louis over the threshold back to bed.

”Shouldn’t have carried me like a sack of potatoes,” Louis laughs, showing Harry how it’s supposed to go.

”It’s called a fireman carry and super manly!” Harry protests, defending himself while letting Louis hold him bridal style.

“You and your crazy determination for puns, I can’t believe I fell for.”

Harry starts singing as soon as Louis puts him down, “I’m more than a bird. I’m more than a plane. More than some pretty face beside a—”

Louis cuts him off with a kiss.

(The firework goes off like a cannon boom.)

Harry startles like a terrified bunny, dropping the champagne bottle. 

Louis catches it before it could shatter on the floor because he’s a great goalie and an actual legit professional football player now.

They race back to bed right before the screaming starts.

(The EMTs rush multiple celebrities into a makeshift first-aid tent because that godforsaken firework broke the cursed chandelier and one of them prays to god that all these people have as big an insurance policy on their important body parts as Beyoncé does hers.)

Harry almost falls flat on his face again, trying to put his shoes on. Because the carnage outside the windows is horrifying and he needs to know if their friends are okay.

Louis is already on the phone with Liam who just got drunk and sobered within the span of an hour. Because Zayn was standing right under the fucking light.

//We don’t know if he’s okay. Taylor’s breaking every traffic law to get me to the hospital. Nialler’s on the way to get you two.//

“Taylor left? Who’s fixing her party?”

//I don’t know. Teddy, maybe. He wasn’t drunk.//

“Probably wishing he is. Hazza, go with Nialler. I’ll make sure everyone gets to the hospital.” 

//But Zayn—//

“Will be okay. He has to.”

Harry isn’t so sure who Louis is trying to convince here. But they don’t have time to argue about it because Niall bursts through the door.

“This year’s just begun like a fucking nightmare!”

Harry can’t help but think to himself,

‘What a way to state the obvious.’

  
  


Then he wakes up in the morning on a hospital bed—to Louis crying, holding his hand, and apologizing profusely for not recognizing the signs of alcohol poisoning.

Still disoriented, Harry asks, “Is Zayn okay?”

Louis stares at him, confused.

“I’m fine, mate. You’re the only one looking like death ran you over,” Zayn says, walking over from the wall he has been leaning on.

Niall and Liam exchange a worried glance. Given how little Zayn and Louis have been eating lately, they’re both decidedly not fine.

And given how thin their mutual friend also looked last night, nobody is under the impression that this underlying sense of impending doom is unwarranted.

They all need to stop running themselves to the ground.

Soon.

Or else.


	17. We got married!

Louis riding him is possibly Harry’s favourite sex position. It is undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous sights Harry has seen and will ever see in this lifetime.

With their fingers interlocking, Louis has his sure hands for leverage. His sweet spouse is practically bouncing, fucking himself on Harry’s cock, and smiling brighter than the sun.

Brilliant blue eyes shine with countless stars of sheer happiness.

Harry can relate to this on so many levels. All the levels.

His paramount adoration for the sound Louis makes is the only reason Harry is not squealing out loud.

He’s still pretty sure there’s an absolute awe in his own eyes that visually screams, ‘We’re married! Oh my god, can you believe? We’re literally married! Legally! We got married! In front of all our friends! And families! We signed the paper! It’s official! We’re married!’

(Louis can’t help but laugh breathlessly as he clenches around his husband’s cock. He loves the way Harry’s beautiful eyes alternate between fluttering close in delirious sensual pleasure and gazing at Louis like he is everything Harry could ever want.

Louis also knows that ‘husband’ isn’t a very gender-neutral word. But it sounds so close to ‘Hazza’ and Louis believes that explanation wouldn’t offend his husband in the slightest.)


	18. You’ve Got that *** ****

“Gonna be so good for you,” Louis promises while his dainty hands are caressing his own skin the way Harry’s should be. His scorching little hole would’ve been massaging Harry’s cock insistently by now if Harry hasn’t been too busy concentrating on following the rigid mixing instructions from a DIY dick cloning kit. Pun intended.

Now Louis is responsible for ensuring that he would get the exact replica of Harry’s cock—by making sure Harry stays hard for the required 60 to 120 seconds—with his erection inside a tube full of moulding gel.

Because creating a dildo in the shape of Harry’s dick is apparently Louis’s idea of fun sexy times.

And Harry is too much of a sap to deny his dearest darling anything—let alone a naughty request which was actually quite sweet like ‘Hazza, please, I wanna feel you inside even when you’re half the world away.’

So Harry tries to focus on watching Louis play with himself and forget how clinical this entire process actually is.

“Gonna think of you every time I fuck myself with it, Haz,” Louis moans prettily, dipping a lubricated finger deeper into his glistening rim. Harry wants to help lick him open.

“Gonna let you put it in first, Haz. Gonna take you in my mouth when you fuck me with it.”

Louis is seemingly putting on an exaggerated show. But Harry can tell the exact moment Louis’s fingertip actually brushes past his own prostate from the beatific look on his face.

“Ah, Haz. Let me take you both ways at once, please.”

Harry’s newly-discovered dilemma is that he must also remember to stay still.

“Baby, please tell me the timer is about to go off,” Harry pleads, more than ready to get this done and over with.

“Twenty seconds more, Hazza,” Louis tells him breathlessly. “Gonna let you fuck me with the double.”

Louis may be getting a little bit too carried away as he continues to whimper.

“Fuck me with it. Fuck me with your cock. Fuck me with both at the same time, Haz.”  
Louis mewls his name alongside the beep of the timer and Harry wants to cry.

Because the most gorgeous person in the galaxy is literally masturbating right in front of him and he’s supposed to somehow go soft to get his dick out of the container of hardened moulding gel.

And all Harry can think about now is how he seriously genuinely wants to fuck his sexy sweetheart senseless.


	19. Just-In-Case Letters for ourselves

How do you forget someone who gave you so much to remember?

You don’t. Ever.

(Unless you got hit around the head and so now have medically induced amnesia.)

Even then, if your loved ones hold onto you with a tight grip?

You may just find yourself falling back in love with the same person over and over again.

Because every time you turn around, with both anterograde and retrograde amnesia in tow?

The one you loved still stays to say, “Hello, stranger.”

With a smile so fragile yet so strong all the same.

Why?

Because even though you can’t seem to recall any memories old and new, they do.

You’ve done it for them before, too.

You just don’t know it yet. 

And I guess you’d never know.

But that’s okay.

I’ll be here to show you how.

All the love,

H Tomlinson.

ps. that’s your name btw. I wrote this letter so you know not to freak out and unintentionally hurt Lou in anyway. Because Louis Styles is the love of your life. And I swear to god we want to keep it that way.

Dear Lou,

H loves you. It’s really all that matters.

Sincerely,

Louis Styles

aka me aka you with absolutely no clue what’s going on whatsoever.

ps. Yes, H made us write this ‘cause we’ve been through some shit. So this just-in-case letter is, well, just in case.

Let him take care of you. I promise he won’t let you down.

pps. Tell H you love him too, even if you don’t remember. Don’t you dare break his heart.

ppps. Last one: Trust Zayn, Niall, Liam, Teddy, Taylor.

they’ve been through some of the same shit you’ve been through and they stay. So.


	20. Anniversaries (All of them so far)

On their very first wedding anniversary (2015), Harry whispers reverently, “We said _I do_.”

With just four simple words, Louis’s husband wrecks him.

Tears fill his eyes and a loud cry spills out unbidden. His own body takes him by surprise. Ruthless pleasure slither down his arching spine like the sweetest molasses, branching its way through all his nerve endings to meet Harry’s adoring touches.

One reassuring hand sparks electrifying tremors at Louis’s fingertips.

One possessive palm burns the most-coveted invisible mark on Louis’s hip.

One deceptively innocent kiss paints Louis’s blushing cheek crimson.

One more deep thrust turns Louis’s syrupy trance into colourful ecstatic rhapsodies.

On their second wedding anniversary (2016), Harry doesn’t say anything.

Louis shakes like a leaf in his husband’s steady arms as waves upon waves of grief threaten to drown him.

When Harry strokes his hair, Louis tries to remember that, at the very least, his mom’s pain wouldn’t be for evermore.

And he prays that his husband’s love will.

On their third wedding anniversary (2017), Harry stays at his mom’s house.

Louis calls Gemma and talks her out of guilt. Cancelling their dinner reservation is a much easier affair than flying halfway across the globe.

“No, Gemma. You’re not a terrible person for asking your mom if she sees your favourite jumper at home. And forgetting to return your step-dad's jacket before he passed will never be the worst crime imaginable.”

Harry texts him at midnight. Louis sends his husband the same message at the exact same time.

[Good night, my love]

On their fourth wedding anniversary (2018), Harry crows smugly, “My little screamer has a crush on me.”

Louis shoves a pillow in his husband’s face and screeches, “We’re literally married!”

Their wrestling match ends with Louis cursing his husband’s wicked tongue and Harry doting on his spouse where the sun don’t shine.

He has to clean up the mess he made after all.

On their fifth wedding anniversary (2019), Harry marvels softly, “It’s been half a decade since we got married.”

Still trembling with oversensitivity in gentle embrace, Louis simply nods then mewls as his attentive husband gives him the most affectionate kisses and aftercare.

On their sixth wedding anniversary (2020), Harry cheekily gets down on one knee.

Louis laughs and plays along as his husband proposes for a vow renewal. But there are real tears teasing at the corners of his eyes.

They hold a quick ceremony for two under a blanket fort, exchange the sweetest kiss, and make a wish list with a twist.

Together they write down their hopes and dreams that have already come true.

Their long list of accomplishments ends up being:

  1. Get married
  2. Make love on the softest rug in front of a fireplace
  3. Move in together 
  4. Learn to say “I love you” in 52 languages 
  5. BECOME A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
  6. Also football player / actor 
  7. Kiss on the rooftop
  8. Write you a song
  9. Write more songs for you
  10. Fuck my “mortal enemy”
  11. Make fun of Management
  12. Flip the bird on national television 
  13. Hold your hand while walking in the park with sweaty palm. Just to see you grimace and refuse to let go.
  14. Finally tell you the truth. About everything.
  15. Trust you again.
  16. LEARN TO COMMUNICATE BETTER
  17. Stop thinking you’ll leave me
  18. Apologize for giving you a reason for 17.
  19. Forgive you
  20. Forgive myself after you did
  21. Be us again
  22. Marry the love of my life.
  23. Remind the love of my life that 1. is at the top of the list
  24. Tell people We Made It
  25. Tell people You’re Still The One
  26. Call you a sap to your face several times a week
  27. Choosing 28 as our number
  28. You.



They proceed to do No. 28, 2, 8 again—all at once.

It’s already past their regular bedtime when they finish making the song Capital 4 Underlined—using No. 4 for the entire chorus.

Then, because of No. 16, they move to the bedroom and Harry does No. 10 to his No. 28 until his spouse sobs out his name.

And with No. 15 and 23 combined, Louis tells his husband that he wants to start working on a naughty list in the morning and that he wants the list to be longer than it is currently going to be.

Since it is technically morning already, Harry gathers everything they need to get started right away. Once the additional supplies are ready, Louis happily sinks down on his cock once more.

Harry makes sure Louis remembers their safe word before slowly easing his finger in alongside his cock. His beautiful darling lets out an embarrassed little laugh and mumbles, “I’m so squelchy.”

Harry holds Louis close, murmuring reassurance and sweet-nothings. They’ve already done this a few times before. Harry understands by now that his spouse’s insecurity is not so much about his body part sounding like a girl. But more about how he is scared that Harry wouldn’t like it. Harry carefully adds another finger when Louis gives him a go-ahead. He’s patient and mindful as he stretches his spouse’s tight rim some more. Eventually, Louis murmurs, “Haz, more, please.”

Before tonight, it always ends here. His small spouse couldn’t take three additional fingers with Harry’s cock and hold off the orgasm. So Louis still hasn’t experienced double-penetration, too sensitive to every touch to continue.

This time, instead of adding the third finger alongside his own cock, Harry gently guides his precious sweetheart off his cock and pushes the lubed-up silicone replica in its place. Louis whimpers plaintively, “It’s cold, Hazza.”

“Keep you from coming too soon, yeah,” explains Harry softly. He places a sweet kiss on his spouse’s forehead before he eases the third finger in alongside the clone of his cock and starts to slowly fuck the love of his life with them.

Louis mewls, but he doesn’t come. Harry caresses his skin soothingly and doles out more kisses obligingly as soon as his beloved requests them.

Eventually, Louis whispers, “I think I’m ready.”

“Do you want to be on your back, honey?” Harry asks, softly still.

His sweet spouse nods shyly. Harry keeps every adjusting movement gentle, especially careful not to dislodge the dildo clone of his cock.

Finally—with Louis’s malleable legs on his shoulders and absolute trust in sky-blue eyes—Harry pushes his cock past his precious spouse’s dripping wet rim into intoxicating soaking scorching clutching tight, tight heat.

But Harry has never heard his wide-eyed sunflower so silent quite this loud. His heart instantly skitters with worry.

“Honey, are you okay?”

Louis blinks at him once, twice, and just bursts into tears.

The panic alarm blaring in Harry’s head stops within a second. Because that’s how long it takes for his spouse to start bawling coherently.

“I love you. I love you so much. You’re here. You’re real. And you’re mine. And you love me and I don’t know why. But I love you. I love you so much, Hazza.”

Beaming so hard his cheeks actually hurt, Harry begins fucking the love of his life purposefully with both his cocks, real and replica.

All the while Louis keeps insisting tearfully that Harry is his one true love. So much so that Harry has to quickly break his own rules of listening to Louis uninterrupted, whenever and wherever, but especially when they make love—to reassure him.

“I love you too. So much, Lou. More than anyone or anything.”

“I love you more, too. More than everyone. Haz, I love you so much it hurt.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” breathes Harry, hearing the past tense for what it is. “We stayed in love through it all, I swear.”

Then he leans down to kiss his beloved spouse’s inviting crimson lips the very best way he knows how.

Louis continues to cry noisily as his husband fucks him so, so good and promises him everything in their shared wedding vow once more.

There is no doubt tonight will always be in their hearts as one of their favourite Midnight Memories.

Pun sincerely intended. 


	21. years down the line (skipable)

Ce+Le (pronounced: Seattle) is a girl group with 5 members, formed in Seattle at a boot camp of a talent show called Visionary Voices. 

Actual Meaning of Band Name:

Copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy, on indefinite repeat.

Explanation for nerds:

C

Double duty as an acronym for Copy and a representative of C-Number aka classical quantity in quantum physics

e+

exponent in maths aka number of tens you multiply a number by

Le

Lewis number aka dimensionless number

(no one but Etta actually understands what each of these specific number signifies. But its pronunciation and overall meaning work, so no one argues. Plus, Wanda’s sinister smile when she asks if anyone has any objection is terrifying.)

Has a Movie called Ce+Le: Our Natural Habitat

(Wanda will sign movie posters for fans and fix it to Our **un** Natural Habitat)

  
Who’s who:

Etta Hendrix Sayers

  * Youngest & smallest person in the band.
  * History geek. All the history. Like from pre-Big Bang cosmology to dinosaurs to WW2 to yesterday.
  * The size of her body and her brain power are inversely proportional.
  * Super smart. A legit member of Mensa. It’s not a secret. She just doesn’t talk about it unless someone asks outright.
  * Often perceived as frivolously whimsical due to her love for vintage anime. Sailer Moon = her ultimate idol.
  * Will cut anyone who dares badmouthing Wanda with her cosplay sword that’s actually really sharp. (Jk, she’d just anonymously expose unsavoury content in their iCloud or whatever)
  * Is secretly a hacker. Might’ve committed a financial fraud at age 13. Wanda is the only other soul who could’ve known about this possibility. A series of curious coincidences went down like this:
      * Wanda volunteered at a run-down local hospice every Sunday after she lost her grandparents. It filled up the time she used to spend having conversations, brunch, and afternoon tea at their house. It sounded quite morbid, but seeing other people losing their loved ones, too, helped her deal with her own grief somehow.
      * Etta was practicing her pen-test skill when she accidentally stumbled upon discriminating evidence that their creepy neighbour was clearly a cyberpedophile who had hired a hitman to murder his estranged wife.
      * The police caught him out for both crimes due to conspicuous email leak. 
      * No one was surprised to learn that his apparent wealth was just a fake front to hide a crippling gambling addiction. 
      * An anonymous donor bet that a few million dollars could save the local hospice from disrepair. The money was wired in on Wanda’s 16th HBD.
      * For absolutely no reason at all, Wanda showed up at Etta’s house that night with suspiciously red eyes, hugged her real tight, and said “Thank you, little angel. Thank you so much.”
  * Her hairstyle always includes bangs because she’s really insecure about the big birthmark on her forehead. But she will smile shyly and let Wanda put a headband on her. Because Wanda loves singing to the tune of Healing Incantation from Disney movie Tangled: 



Princess Etta, she

was born with pretty crown

Time just pauses when

she laughs with crinkly eyes

Hope one day she’ll see

beauty in her smile

and the way I love

her kind and brilliant mind

angel of mine

  * Most daring dream = Collaboration with Taylor Swift: Music AND InfoSec 
  * Has two signatures
      * For fans 
          * Etta Sayers
      * For official documents, initial of her full name in reverse
          * SHE



Wanda Lennon Tolman

  * Etta’s best friend since childhood. Their parents are friends. Been a package deal for as long as they can remember.
  * The tallest person in the band.
  * Never exercise but looks like a lingerie model (very adamant that gymnastics doesn’t count as exercise because that’s _playing_. Etta politely agrees to disagree.)
  * Has three legends who died young to her name


    1. Scarlet Witch, killed by Thanos’s snap in MCU (yes, she came back to life later but that’s besides the point)
    2. John Lennon, died at 40, member of The Beatles aka music royalty, duh.
    3. Charles E. Tolman, died at 39, Navy Commander in WW2 who has a warship named after him posthumously: USS Tolman (DM28) destroyer minelayer. Etta told her about this when she was like ten years old.


  * Has Kesha’s quote as personal motto: “Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young.”
  * Unnecessarily begins every other sentence with: “Etta says,” (cuz Etta Sayers, get it?) even when Etta never says such things.
  * Take Etta’s side in every argument/debate because: “Etta knows for a fact that what she’s saying is true. Do you?”
  * Shameless 1D Stan: worships the ground Louis Tomlinson walks on out loud (Cuz anti-capitalism hero AND music living legend, hello) but will never ever admit that Harry Styles was actually her favourite member of One Direction, specifically MITAM era, because his long curly locks remind her of Etta.



Jamie James Jameson

Has a meme made with her name:

“all J no K” = not just kidding = for real

Has Enemy-to-friend-to-confidant relationship with Wanda

Sensible. Deadpan humour.

Was studying to become an actual sound engineer.

Jan Holmes Nietzsche

This is her actual full legal name. But everyone is like, “sure, jan”

Good thing she’s not easily offended and always laughs it off.

She finds everything hilarious, especially things Wanda does

Not-so-secretly runs a well-known fan blog for Eda Tolers receipts

(Eda Tolers = Etta Sayers + Wanda Tolman)

May June Zimmermann

This may or may not be her actual name. But she blinks at you, and so you will believe everything she says. No question asked.

Gorgeous and all its synonyms cannot adequately describe how beautiful she is.

Has the best voice.

Is Wanda’s partner-in crime

Her sewing skill is unreal. She adores making elaborate/understated costumes as per Etta’s requests.

Naming Ceremony Night 

“One Direction,” Wanda announces decisively. Jan giggles. May facepalms.

“That’s plagiarism,” Jamie says flatly, trying but failing to contain derision in her tone. Wanda pouts and Etta quickly points out, “But they plagiarised it from someone else, too.”

Then she winks at Wanda who immediately blows her a kiss in response.


	22. Prologue

Lou and H are childhood sweethearts, musicians, married, and still in love.

Their love story began long before they auditioned for the X-Factor and added One Direction to their name.

Louis Tomlinson wrote Midnight Memories to keep them Up All Night because he couldn’t stand to see his lover leave in the morning.

Meanwhile Harry Styles insisted, “Boo, stay Where We Are. I promise you can always TAKE ME HOME later, please.”

Because he knew Taylor Swift already threw a wrench in all of their plans and opened fire on burning RED battlegrounds before she even realised what she had done to every lover in town.

Zain Javadd Malik didn’t care what anyone else had to say and gladly sacrificed himself at FOUR AM, IN THE very last ditch attempt to protect his best friend’s MOM. Because no war matters when you have nothing left to fight for.

At the end of the day, Liam Payne MADE damn sure the love of his life did not die in vain.

Niall Horan stormed through every Heartbreak Weather to find a Flicker of hope.

Ed Sheeran provided that in spade because he’s fearless and never gave a shit about big bad losers anyway.

He stopped time for them in 2020, divided up the Happily Ever After, breaking everyone’s heart to pieces in the process. Because ZAYN was right. The most powerful magic involved a selfless sacrifice. Music is figurative magic, ergo why.

Plus, Ariana Grande had already been waiting on standby with a little bit of their friends’ mismatched hearts to patch up bleeding love.

Taylor multiplied them as a sincere apology. So they’d be just fine sooner than later.

In 1989, they go On The Road Again.

This time around, Taylor knows exactly what to do.

(No one could’ve thought it was gonna end that way. So she doesn’t waste time with empty promises. She just starts fixing it to show others how to do the same.

Karlie Kloss runs with her, all the while teaching young children what her forever-young magician wishes to have known when she was fifteen.)

**Author's Note:**

> All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.


End file.
